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Madonna, Madonna Music Videos, Madonna Videos, MDNA, MDNA Week, MyFavorites, Top 10 Madonna Music Videos, Top 10 Madonna Videos
“MDNA” Week continues… and how could I possibly have a Madonna week and not celebrate her amazing Videography. From her start, she’s been making videos that are groundbreaking, taboo, dramatic, sexy, thought provoking, controversial and every thing in between. The Queen of Re-Invention often used her music videos to shock with a new look, or just shock with the concepts or social commentary. The only problem was narrowing the list down to a Top 10, as so many awesome videos had to be left out (some of my favorites that suffered from the chopping block : “Music”, “Borderline”, “Justify My Love”, “Die Another Day” and “Bedtime Story”) but I think this Top 10 is a very comprehensive list. Debatable? Sure, but enjoy it anyway and Know that I Heart comments!!
10. “Vogue”
I don’t think I could make any kind of list about Madonna’s career without involving her signature “Vogue”. And Yes this video is a classic one, with the first mainstream introduction to ‘Voguing’, and Madonna giving FACE and BODY and STYLE. It’s one of her most timeless videos.
9. “Don’t Tell Me”
One of those videos that make you appreciate the song even more. It’s relatively simple, but some of the subtle effects used along with the contemporary line-dance make the video totally stand out as one of her most fun and vibrant videos.
8. “Express Yourself”
This video has a ton of Iconic images from the Queen, from the suit wearing crotch grab, the platinum blonde bob drinking the cat milk, and her “girl in chains” image among others. It’s a lot, but never too much, and overall it’s like a piece of art in motion
7. “Ray of Light”
Beware, this hyper-paced video could cause epileptic seizures! However if you can hold out long enough, you’ll get a very unique video that strangely enough perfectly matches the hyper-paced song it’s for.
6. “Open Your Heart”
Another Iconic Madonna video, her old school peep show for underage eyes has Madonna looking great and being almost sexier than any of her previous videos. One could probably read too much into the video, but there’s no need because ultimately it’s just a Fun video for a Fun Pop song.
5. “Papa Don’t Preach”
Madonna’s first “Mini-Movie”, she grabbed an acclaimed actor Danny Aiello to bring to life the story of a teenage girl dealing with impending pregnancy. The song and concept were timely and rather risky for a big Pop artist like Madge, but the video is so perfectly paced and the drama and emotion are totally felt. It’s a bit of an edge of your seat video, will Papa Preach or not!? Watch and find out.
4. “Rain”
Madonna and Director Mark Romanek made the very sterile world of electronics and A/V equipment look classic and just beautiful. “Rain” is one of Madge’s most beautiful songs, so the video matches up perfectly with it. It’s the contrast of making beauty out of the cold behind the scenes world that makes the video so effective and moving.
3. “Take a Bow”
Allegedly, this video helped Madonna get the role of “Evita” and you can see why. Such a dramatic TeleNovella-like video with so much passion and intensity and emotion. She looks amazing, the story is so well put together, and the direction and visuals are perfect for the tone and feel of the song. A true Masterpiece, and at the time a very subdued and classy Madonna that people weren’t used to seeing.
2. “Human Nature”
A fierce, risky, sexy and unique dance video that for so many reasons is easily one of her best. It’s completely captivating, the dancing and staging in the boxes were truly innovative (how many videos tried to copy that afterwards), and in true chameleon form Madonna gives us another unexpected yet Hot look. Top notch and unforgettable video.
1. “Bad Girl”
One of Madonna’s most underrated songs from one of her most underrated albums, and this excellent video is also one of her most underrated outings. With Christopher Walken co-starring as some sort of contemporary grim reaper, she tells the story of a woman hitting a breaking point with her destructive lifestyle. The styling is perfection and the story is tragic, yet you can’t look away and you never get bored watching it.
The biggest fears came from the two singles “Give Me All Your Luvin'” and “Girl Gone Wild” which seemed very uninspired coming from a Queen whose known for taking risks and pushing boundaries. “Luvin'” came off entirely too Young and Pop-ish to be taken seriously, while “Girl” felt like standard Dance/Pop Top 40 fare with nothing at all intriguing or new. The fear for “MDNA” was that it would be way too commercial and have Madonna, a LEGEND, dumbing down her sound to fit in with the Katy Perry’s and Ke$ha’s of the world. Luckily, the album isn’t too far into the “Desperate Young-sounding angle”, but it’s also not far enough into the “Mature Adult Artist angle” either. The end result being a very mish-mosh and uneven album even when it has some great shining moments. What the album really needed was a objective editor, the album is a bit over-long and with a bunch of filler. Had certain songs been taken out, the album would have felt better on the whole. Songs like “Some Girls” “Superstar” (Lady GaGa and Katy Perry sounding, respectively) and “Best Friend” are so run of the mill, they have no place on the album which at it’s best moments does try to reach for new ground — or at least involves more thoughtful and creative production, which those songs do not. Eliminating the Basic would have benefited the album and made the strong cuts stand out even more. Speaking on the highlights though, “Gang Bang” is a very interesting and intense production (though the lyrics getting repetitive and annoying after a while). “Love Spent” has word play and very intriguing and ever changing production. I happen to love when Madonna get’s all 60’s on us with “B-Day Song” and another stand out track “I’m A Sinner”, she sounds more alive and confident on these tracks than pretty much anything else on the album. While “I F**cked Up” is a stellar electro-ballad that’s easily the most heartfelt and personal on the album (without being too maudlin like say “Falling Free”). “MDNA” fulfills the Madonna-itch that most of her fans have been feeling since the let-down of “Hard Candy” nearly 4 years ago, but as an album it doesn’t feel as cohesive as that album. As fans we expect a lot from Madonna, and the new album doesn’t do much to show the Artist we know she can be. Fun, Danceable, Catchy… yes! However 12 albums in, Madonna should be giving us a lot more than just that. 3 of 5 Best: I’m A Sinner, I Fvcked Up, Love Spent
With “Music“, a short 10 track album, Madonna was able to balance out what was great about her previous Award winner with a throwback to her more fun side. Mirwais, who produced the bulk of the album, seamlessly mixes the very heartfelt and ambient stuff of “Ray of Light”, but also ups the tempo with some amazing Dance stuff as well. From the now classic title track, to single “Don’t Tell Me” and the insane “Impressive Instant”, you get the fun and catchiness Madonna was famous for. And with the beautiful “What It Feels Like For A Girl”, “Nobody’s Perfect” and “Gone”, you get the introspective and heartfelt lyrics we now knew she was capable of.
Easily my least favorite Madge outing, but even I have to appreciate her for going there and not compromising. The album was produced mainly by Mirwais again, ditching any elements of Pop and giving listeners a really intense and loud album that is full-on Electronia with no commercial filter. With the key-screeching on “I’m So Stupid”, and the stuttering electro-blips on the title track, it’s almost a Noise-Pop album before that term was even invented. The album does have a softer side in tracks like “Love Profusion” and “X-Static Process”, but overall the album doesn’t work for me, but still has some amazing career stand outs. “Nothing Fails” is a heartfelt ballad that truly gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it (and to this day). “Hollywood” the aforementioned “I’m So Stupid” and James Bond theme “Die Another Day” are other stand outs for me.
There’s some motivational, inspirational tracks that pepper the album but overall it’s Madonna getting back to being fun. The mega-hit “Hung Up” is a tongue and cheek Disco-homage, “I Love New York” has in-arguably some of Madonna’s worst lyrics but the Electro-Rock track is just so fun and catchy you don’t even care. And though there are some great lyrics here and there, the album is more focused on a feeling and vibe without getting too deep. And in that way it’s a excellent album, it all flows so well together and again Madonna got even more stand out cuts for her lengthy discography. “Get Together” is perfection, one of my favorite Madonna cuts ever. “Forbidden Love”, “Let It Will Be”, pretty much every song here is a winner and one that can stand on it’s own, but as a complete album it’s just ecstasy.
“Hard Candy” was a perfect title for what Madonna set out to do with her next album. By enlisting Timbaland and Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams, she wanted to add a harder Hip Hop edge to her sweet Pop Dance sounds. One thing about this album, you can’t help but dance your way through it. The guys provide her with some dance-floor ready beats that make you ignore the other short comings of the songs. Those short comings though are really evident throughout the album, and another reason why “Hard Candy” is such an appropriate title because there’s almost zero substance to any of it. There are a few tracks where there’s actually a point (“Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” and oddly “Give It 2 Me”), but the majority are just party numbers where “get up on the dancefloor” and “see my booty get down” are pretty much the standard. It’s catchy stuff, and given songs like “My Humps” and “Sexyback” were dominating airwaves, seems like Madonna wanted a chance to just be silly and fun.
In 1983, Prince did something he hadn’t done his whole career and wouldn’t do for another 10 years. He actually took a break! From his debut in 1978 up until his Masterpiece “1999” in 1982, Prince released an album every year. Of course we know now that he took 1983 off to film his first starring role in the future classic film “Purple Rain. The year off also gave a chance for the calm before the storm, because 1984 would be his biggest year ever, the year that would make him a World Wide Star and pop culture Icon. The albums following the immense success of “Purple Rain” would be a strange journey, but a fun and always changing journey.
If you don’t know anything about Prince, you know of “Purple Rain“. The Academy Award winning summer blockbuster of 1984, and the accompanying album of the same name which spent 24 weeks at #1. This is definitely his most Iconic album in his Discography, and possibly the most overexposed because of it’s success. As a fan, the popularity of the album may affect feelings about the album overall, but it can’t be denied that the soundtrack packs some amazing music. The great thing is it doesn’t stray too far from his edgy prior work, keeping the sound still very much an experimental and genre-bending like the music he got famous for. The difference is it’s definitely a bigger sound, with more anthemic tracks for the film. It’s a bit more polished than his earlier work, but it still maintains a bit of the underground edge that made him stand out from the rest of the Pop crew of the time.
Following his most successful era yet, Prince seemed to want to get away from that sort of fame with 1985’s “Around the World In A Day“. Not only was there purposely very little promotion surrounding the albums release, but the whole theme of the album seems to deal with him and The Revolution wanting to escape in so many ways. Going “Around the World” is a way to escape conceptually, and musically the album does escape a bit from his usual. Not to say this album is drastically different from his other work, there is definitely a stamp of the Prince sound imprinted here. There’s diversity, great lyricism and wordplay, and some great vocal techniques. However, from the albums beautiful artwork to it’s music there is a psychedelic and worldly influence on every track. And while there are some really great stand out tracks here, something about the album just feels off.
Just like in the (crap!) film and Prince’s directorial debut “Under the Cherry Moon”, the accompanying album “Parade” is steeped in Parisian influences. Thankfully the album works infinitely better than the movie by being really funky and utilizing some really great production while Prince vocally is doing things he hadn’t done at that point. And on top of The Revolution sounding more harmonious than ever before, Prince adds more instrumentation, orchestration and even some elements of Jazz to make the overall feel very lush and full. Tonally, Prince had something in mind and it sounds like he executed every bit of that sound. Which, for me, lies the problem. Nearly everything here has a similar sound, not saying that each song is a carbon copy of the former, but it’s a lot less energetic and diverse thus making it a clear departure from his earlier work. Besides the funk cuts, there isn’t a definable sound for the bulk of the album, and that’s basically Prince trying to form a whole new genre and sound which has to be applauded. When you get songs like “Girls and Boys”, “Mountains”, “Under the Cherry Moon”, “Anotherloverholenyourhead” and one of Prince’s signature mega-hits “Kiss” it’s really hard to complain about the album. Even the shorter “interlude” like songs “I Wonder U” and “Life Can Be So Nice” are more than stellar. “Parade” is simply just Prince’s biggest departure from his signature sound, and feels a little different. Still a great album, but as a Prince fan it just feels like something is missing.
And than, in 1987, Prince released another Masterpiece. After veering a off the path a little and trying new things with his last two efforts, Prince managed to recapture his strengths and what made him who he is as an artist. The double album “Sign O the Times” delivers on so many different levels and is easily his second best album to date (and on any give day, maybe his best!). The sound is really underground and especially grungy on certain tracks (“It” and “The Cross” come to mind) recalling the tone of “Dirty Mind”. This album maintains the edginess of that Prince, but 6 years later he displays much more maturity and and even better grasp of his musical talents.
I bought the Blu-Ray about a month ago, and I have literally watched it about 7 times in the past few weeks. With the expert screenwriting, Award winning acting and genius direction the movie is just Ace in all areas. Funny, because certain qualities about the movie should have been a disaster. At times Director Milos Forman‘s adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name feels designed for the contemporary market of the early 80’s. For example, most of the main actors are American instead of hiring Italian and German actors for authenticity’s sake. Also the actors aren’t forced to don fake accents, they just vary their American accents to represent the common folks of the time and the more regal Royal ones.
Throughout several beautiful musical performances, Salieri tries his best to take Mozart down. Whether it be sabotaging future work opportunities, trying to manipulate his wife Constanze (played by Elizabeth Berridge) in sleazy ways, to his final attempt at disguising himself to commission a “Death March” from Mozart which ultimately brings the un-doing of both composers.
